Icahn: "There's a secular change happening, which we see as a great opportunity, and it will be good for Icahn Enterprises."

Carl Icahn's Icahn Automotive Group LLC said it has acquired 19 service centers and an auto parts distribution business.

The moves, announced Friday, boost the Southfield, Mich.-based automotive repair company's national network of owned and franchised locations in almost every state, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and in Canada. The new portfolio of service centers stretches from coast to coast, including a chain in California.

Icahn also purchased New York City-based BS&F Auto Parts. The deal includes bringing on the aftermarket auto parts distributor's owner and CEO Joseph Ferrer as regional vice president for commercial operations of eight locations across the city, the news release said.

"We continue to aggressively expand our national automotive service network, strengthen our full-service capabilities and invest in our most important asset, our people," Icahn CEO Daniel Ninivaggi said in a statement. "We are excited to welcome new team members to the Icahn Automotive family and provide them, like our 25,000+ existing team members, the opportunity to be part of a dynamic and successful company."

Details of the transactions were not disclosed in the release.

The 19 service centers include:

Elliott Tire and Service, Washington State; 10 locations

S&S Service, Hamburg, N.Y.

Jack's Service Center, Miami

Blanchette's Auto Center, Dracut, Mass.

Quality Automotive, Napa, Calif.

Honest Auto Service, Seattle; two locations

WS Haynes Tire & Service, Memphis, Tenn.; two locations

RL&F Auto Inc., Morrisville, N.C.

Plainfield Tire Center, Plainfield, Ind.

Icahn operates almost 2,000 owned and franchised service centers across the country, the news release said.

Legendary Wall Street investor Carl Icahn has been aggressively expanding in the automotive service and aftermarket retail space for the last few years. He also owns parts maker Federal-Mogul Holdings Corp., which owns numerous brands such as Champion spark plugs and Wagner brakes.

Icahn further holds a small stake in ride-sharing firm Lyft Inc. and a controlling position in rental car giant Hertz Global Holdings Inc.

"If you look at these businesses as single things, I don't think they're that great," he said in a recent interview with Bloomberg. "But they're positioned as a group to cash in on the new car culture. There's a secular change happening, which we see as a great opportunity, and it will be good for Icahn Enterprises."